5 ways to make money as a food photographer

Are you a food photographer wondering how you can earn money doing what you love?

I've got great news for you - there are lots of ways to make money as a food photographer! Whether you prefer to work from your home studio creating styled product images for your favourite brand's next campaign, or love getting out and shooting on-location at restaurants and hotels, rest assured that there is a way you can monetise your skills.

In this post you'll learn about five ways to make an income food photography, plus there's a freebie waiting for you that's packed with even more ideas to keep monetising!

Who needs food photography and why?

Before we dive in, I want to talk about who needs food photography and why food photography is important for businesses in the food and beverage industry.

Almost any business in the food and beverage sector can benefit from high quality food photography. That includes food and drinks brands, restaurants, cafes and hotels, as well as food bloggers and food producers and manufacturers.

Why? Let's see...

1. Sell products
2. Entice customers to visit the establishment
3. Attract people to try their recipes
4. Develop partnerships and grow the business
5. Differentiate themselves from the competition

Food photography can help businesses with these goals because food photography tells stories and evokes emotions in people.

You've probably hear the phrase "you eat with your eyes" and that's exactly why food photography is so important. We are attracted to food that looks appetising before we've even tasted it.

I work with a cafe in central London whose customer's come to eat because of the photos they've seen on social media - sometimes they don't even look at the menu, they just ask for dishes in the photos!

In order for photos of food to have that effect, it needs to emotionally impact the viewer. That's done through the way the food is plated and how the whole scene is styled, from the colours and garnishes, to lighting and positioning of other elements in the frame. All these things determine whether someone will see a photo and want to devour the dish or not.

Investing in great food photography can greatly benefit a business. Having images that make their products and dishes look irresistibly mouth-watering is one of the best ways for a business to gain more customers and grow their business.

With the rise of digital media, there is no escaping visual content. Professional food photographers are the ones who can help sky-rocket businesses in the food and beverage industry!

5 ways to earn money as a food photographer

So, now we know why food photography is important, let's look at different businesses you could work with to monetise your skills.

1. Product & packaging photography for brands

Almost all brands have a website and social media channels where photographs of their products are shown to potential customers.

Therefore, as a food photographer you can offer to create those photos for brands! Sometimes products are shot on a white or plain background for an online shop, and other times the brand may want more styled shots with ingredient/flavour cues or lifestyle images for specific campaigns.

Some brands also want photography for the product packaging and this is another thing you could offer as a food photographer.

My experience: I have found this type of work patchy and inconsistent, so I prefer to work with brands that I really like and maintain long-term relationships so that I'm the person at the top of their mind when they're ready for a shoot.

2. Content creation for brands and businesses

Brands that have social media channels will need content to share with their audience on a regular basis, to grow their brand awareness and customer base. Whilst some brands create content in-house, many work with creatives to help them generate photos and videos of their products and to tell their brand story.

As a food photographer, you can create content for food and drinks brands! From still images and engaging reels, to recipe development and serving suggestions, there are lots of fun ways you can work with brands.

You could also offer (and charge separately for this!) to publish content on your own social media channels or blog featuring the brand's products. This is called sponsored content or influencer marketing, where the brand will benefit from their products being exposed to your audience.

My experience: Content creation can be a good way to find more regular clients as brands will always need fresh content to share. Bigger brands will have more budget for a contract with a photographer, though they may also get the work done through an agency, so getting in can be challenging!

3. Restaurant photography

If you've been here a while you'll know I LOVE working with restaurants and cafes. Most establishments nowadays have social media accounts and use them to share content about their menus with their followers, with the aim of enticing them to visit.

Oftentimes, restaurants change their menu throughout the year and will need updated imagery for their website and socials - this is where you come in! You could agree to shoot for your local restaurant monthly or seasonally and capture photos of their dishes, drinks, interiors and staff.

Whilst some smaller, independent businesses might not have a big budget for photography it's always worth speaking with them and finding out what their pain points are, so you can clearly show how you'll add value to their business.

My experience: I have a few long-term clients who I shoot seasonal content for. Many restaurants don't don't have a huge budget, so you may need to do some door-knocking or try approaching restaurant groups who have marketing departments and hopefully bigger budgets for photoshoots!

4. Photography for food bloggers

If you're not a fan of recipe development but love shooting the cooking/baking process and final dishes (hello, that's me!), then you could offer your photographer services to food bloggers!

Food bloggers will always need beautiful, appetising images of their recipes for their website and social media, and not all of them have the time or skills to create high quality photos consistently - especially if they're churning out several recipes each week.

So, you could try reaching out to bloggers directly via their DMs or email asking if they outsource their photography or need help creating images for their recipes. You could also try posting in food blogger Facebook groups and let people know that you are available for work, along with a link to your portfolio or some example photos.

Food bloggers might not be able to pay as much as a big food brand, but it can be a great of of building relationships and long-term, regular work.

My experience: I actually haven't worked with food bloggers. I did try reaching out to some in my early days but the people I contacted didn't outsource their photography. However, I know a few photographers who work with bloggers and really enjoy it!

5. Sell your knowledge through digital products

Another way you could sell your knowledge is through digital products, such as ebooks and online courses or masterclasses.

Building these kinds of products takes time and energy, but they enable you to teach the topics you love and feel most confident about.

You can sell them through an online shop on your website or simple links that you can share on socials. Once you've created them and they are live, you have the opportunity to make money 24/7 from anywhere in the world!

BUT, these products do not sell themselves. Just because you've spent days, weeks or months creating the most amazing online course and hit publish, doesn't mean you're going to make thousands overnight. You need to learn to market yourself and your products constantly and be available to support your customers when things go wrong.

My experience: I have an affordable online food photography course for beginners, Hobbyist to Pro, as well as a handful of ebooks on my online shop! Check them out if you're looking to level up your food photography and styling skills!

As I said before, even though these products are out there and I think they're amazing (I wish my course existed when I first started), they don't sell themselves! I have to keep telling people about them in order for them to generate revenue.

I hope you enjoyed this post and discovered some new ways to make money as a food photographer!

If you're ready to boost your business growth and discover more ways to monetise your creative business then download the free ebook above and get stuck in!

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